


Void

by Craftyshipper



Category: Ratchet & Clank
Genre: F/M, Family, Hurt/Comfort, Love, Villains
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-03
Updated: 2018-07-24
Packaged: 2018-10-14 14:35:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10538496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Craftyshipper/pseuds/Craftyshipper
Summary: "Ratchet! Elani!" Talwyn screamed for them as Ratchet looked to her before his fingers lost their grip. The dark hole swallowed them both before it faded, the helmet fell to the floor in pieces. Talwyn sprinted to it and yanked on the chain. "Dimensionator, find Ratchet!" Nothing. She desperately tried again with tears in her eyes, yielding no results. They were gone.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was also published on my other fanfic site so I'd thought I'd give it a try here :)

New Beginning

~When you're with me, I can take on the world~

"Is that the dimensionator?" A small metallic gray robot asked his friend as he jumped up to sit on the bench next to him.

"Yep."

"I assume it is no longer functional?"

"Nope." Ratchet leaned back to give the odd metal helmet a soft kick, only to have it fall apart with loud springing noises.

A rumble started in his chest before the young Lombax busted up laughing and laid down on the bench where he and Clank were sitting as the little robot joined him in his brief moment of laughter.

"I- haha- just can't -catch a break- haha."

"Ah," Clank sighed as his laughter died down, "I am sorry. "

Ratchet sobered as he sat up and glanced at Clank. "Eh, it's okay."

Clank paused briefly to ask Ratchet what had been on his mind since the fight with the Nethers.

"If the dimensionator was functional, would you use it?"

Ratchet's eyes glanced sadly at Clank.

"To find the Lombaxes? I dunno; there was a time when I would have said yes, but at this point, there's more for me here, than over there." Ratchet turned to stare at a tall, slightly slender female.

Talwyn Apogee stared at Ratchet and smiled as she caught the last bit of his sentence. Her dark hair was pushed back past her face, while a red headband kept the more unruly strands in place on her head. Her green and black suit, still slightly dirty from their latest adventure.

Clank seemed to understand his statement, he had more here with Talwyn and himself than what he would have in a dimension with his own species whose language he was still trying to learn.

After facing off against Percival and defeating him, Talwyn and Ratchet had grown closer as friends. It wasn't until recently after Clank and Ratchet had returned from the Great Clock, that the Lombax had really started to have romantic feelings for the female. From there, their relationship had grew into something more meaningful. Clank knew Ratchet loved her, he wanted to continue building his life with Talwyn at his side. Clank smiled slightly glad that his friend had more in his life then when they first met.

Ratchet turned to Clank, "Come on, we don't want to keep her waiting."

Clank and Ratchet stood to their feet and made their way to Talwyn, but Clank paused and glanced away from the pair to the helmet resting on the floor. His small arm reached out and grabbed it before taking off to follow them.

Clank didn't know what he'd do with it but if there was a chance for Ratchet to meet his kind someday, he was going to make sure he exhausted all ideas before he gave up on it.

Ratchet and Talwyn turned to find Clank carrying the dimensionator, causing the lombax to raise a questioning brow.

"What are you doing pal?"

Clank immediately came up with a lie, "With everything that has happened with all the transdimensional misadventures, I'd find it utterly irresponsible to just leave the dimensionator lying around where anybody could get their hands on it."

Ratchet turned to Talwyn, "He has a point."

Clank tried to give his best smug smirk, but failed miserably causing the couple to laugh. Clanks eyes lit up with a smile as they continued walking down through the hallway of the Polaris Defense station.

Talwyn gave Ratchet a sideways glance before hesitantly reaching for his hand. His gloved hand closed around hers as a small smile crawled across his face.

"What now?" Ratchet asked no one in particular.

Clank and Talwyn looked to Ratchet as he stared through the window that peered out to the city. His eyes scanned slowly, looking for their next foe.

"I think, we need a long break." Talwyn smiled, "Maybe time to find an actual house?"

Talwyn voiced the last part as a question, waiting to gauge his reaction. Was he ready to settle down? With her and Clank by his side? They did try to retire several times but they had agreed that hero work was in their nature.

Ratchet grinned and turned to her, "Only if you think you can put up with me as a housemate." He laughed as his more playful side came out.

"Well, I guess we'll have to wait and find out then won't we?" Talwyn stated with a laugh.

Ratchet turned to her and then looked at Clank. His family. No, there was still another person he had wanted to become part of this. A small Tharpod girl. Someone who didn't have a family due to several raids on the city she used to live in with her parents.

Susie.

Ever since they had saved the yo7ng Tharpod amd her friends from the threat that had abducted all of them including himself, Clank, Qwark and Nefarious, he had grown fond of her. The way she looked up to him and helped them during that adventure of chaos opened his eyes to how much she missed having a family.

"Talwyn, there is something I wanted to discuss with you."

"Sure, what's up?"

"How do you feel about adoption?"

Clank smiled inwardly at his words, knowing fully well who he was referring to.

"I would be okay with that. Besides," She glances fondly to the statues of Cronk and Zepher, "Its what they did for me."


	2. Family

**Family**

_~The love of a family is life's greatest blessings~_

Clank watched as Ratchet moved around the ship he was currently working on. Passing a tool whenever the Lombax had asked for it. Ratchet turned and closed the bottom panel and walked over to Clank and plopped himself on the ground. He still wore the same suit he had back when he fought against the Nethers. It was a comfortable outfit, it had just been upgraded slightly to fit his body style change since he had grown since then.

"Finished, I presume?"

"For now, I have to get a part, which I think I can only find at Big Al's." Ratchet sighed and leaned back on his hands.

Ratchet and Clank were approached by their neighbor, after the older man's ship had failed to start. Ratchet not wanting to be rude or leave the man without transportation had agreed to take a look.

It had been three years since Talwyn, Ratchet and Clank had found a home on Metropolis. They had bought a four bedroom home right in the middle of the city. The view was perfect and they had really nice neighbors who welcomed them with open arms. Plus the neighborhood kids though it was awesome to have heroes live right down the street.

Clank had decided to stay with Ratchet, but he still did his part to protect the clock. They had set up a teleportation pad that would take Clank to the clock within seconds. It was set to Clank's robotic signature, ensuring he was the only one that could use it. He visited Sigmund five times a week for six hours at a time, but he only went between 2:00 am until 8:00 am while the others were asleep. The duo worked together to fix any temporal breakages, they consider themselves the caretakers as partners instead of junior and senior.

Clank looked to Ratchet as the youthful Lombax sighed.

"I'll order the part and have it shipped here overnight." Ratchet yawned and stood up.

"Hey, Susie should be here any moment right?" Ratchet thought aloud.

As if on cue the young blue lizard child came charging for them. She wore a sleeveless purple shirt and black shorts with sandles that exposed her feet and white talons. She grinned and held up her paper. "Look who aced their test today!"

Ratchet smiled and hugged the ten year old as she barreled into him. "Great job Susie!" Ratchet praised as she let him go and waved the paper around with a wide grin, her purple hair draping over her shoulders.

Since Susie was an orphan, Ratchet and Talwyn had decided to adopt her into their family. Ratchet knew what it was like to be alone with little to no family at such a young age and he didn't want her to grow up like he had. Children needed families that they could rely on if they ever had a problem, not face it alone.

But one thing he couldn't fix were the nightmares she still had about the death of her father. She would wake up crying until he or Talwyn had comforted her through the night. They did their best for her, even enrolling her in school here in Metropolis. Where she obviously was happy, especially learning new things.

"Where's Talwyn and Elani?"

"Tal had to take Elani for a check up today." Ratchet explained to her. "She's eight months old now, so Tal took her for her shots."

Susie cringed, "Ew, I hate shots!"

"Well get over it little missy, cause you're going for yours next week." Ratchet made a funny face at her before she did the same by sticking her tongue out at him.

The orange haired Lombax laughed softly. "Are you hungry? How about a snack?"

"Yes please!" Susie exclaimed happily.

Just as they were about to head inside, Clank turned at the sound of a ship and his eyes lit up with a smile. "It seems Talwyn is back early."

Ratchet and Susie turned to see Talwyn's ship approaching and parking in their front yard in the space he left open for her. The glass opened up and Talwyn waved to the three of them. "Hey guys."

Ratchet jogged over to her with Susie and Clank in tow. Talwyn, smiling with gratefulness, handed a small bundle to Ratchet before she hopped out and closing the ships cockpit.

"Hey sweetie," Talwyn kissed Ratchet on the cheek before leaning down to hug both Clank and Susie.

"How was the appointment?" Clank asked before Ratchet could form the words.

Ratchet shifted the bundle in his arms and slowly unfolded the blanket as two fairly large Lombax ears popped out, followed by two green eyes and a brown nose. Ratchet smiled as he stared at his daughter. Elani was half Lombax and half Markazian, thanks to Ratchet's more dominate genes she had taken after him a bit more. The only thing different were the color of the stripes on her ears, which were the same shade of purple as her mother's skin.

Ratchet and Talwyn hadn't thought they would have been able to have any children because of their differences in species but Talwyn had gotten pregnant a year after they had moved into their home. There were a few complications during her birth but both mother and baby had come through and they were both healthy.

Ratchet smiled tenderly at the small Lombax in his arms as he tickled her belly causing her to giggle which brought a grin to his face. At the sound of Elani's laugh, Susie, Talwyn and Clank turned to look.

Talwyn smiled softly at the sight, seeing Ratchet so happy filled her heart with joy. She brushed at a spot of dirt on her black pants before calling out to the older Lombax.

"Ratchet, we should head inside."

The Lombax turned to the three of them and nodded as he followed them to the house. He shifted Elani in his arms so she was sitting up right and peered out over his shoulder. Her green eyes full of wonder. Talwyn had dressed her in a dark purple footed onsie. She would get shoes later when she was learning to walk and be more active, but not until then.

Ratchet passed Elani to Talwyn before going to the fridge to fetch a snack for Susie. He grabbed some fruit and to it to the counter where he began chopping it up and putting it into a bowl before handing it to Susie. The little girl grinned as she saw some of her favorite fruit inside the bowl before happily digging in.

Ratchet grabbed a bottle and prepared some nutrients for Elani. Talwyn had breastfed for awhile but she was almost a year old and the doctor had suggested they start to wean her slowly. After he finished preparing the bottle he passed it off to Talwyn so she could feed Elani.

Clank walked over to the cupboard and helped himself to a small canister of oil. He didn't need to eat but oil kept him from rusting and it was a nice treat from time to time.

"Alright guys, how about a movie before we begin cooking dinner?" Talwyn asked.

All of them had agreed, except Ratchet. "I'll join you guys in a second, I need to call Al to order a part for our neighbors ship."

Talwyn smiled and walked over to give him a quick peck on lips before pulling away, "Always the working man haha." Ratchet smiled softly. "Come join us when you've finished okay?"

"You got it." Ratchet headed to the office that wasn't far from their living room and grabbed his com unit.

Easily placing a call to Al, Ratchet had the part ordered within five minutes and Al told him it would arrive tomorrow afternoon. Ratchet thanked him before setting his nav unit aside and leaving the office after turning off the light.

He joined Tal, Susie, Clank and Elani in the living room and noticed Talwyn about to stand with a cringe on her face.

"What happened?"

"Haha, someone needs a diaper change." Talwyn laughed lightly.

Ratchet strode over to her and reached for Elani. "I got it Tal."

"Are you sure?"

Ratchet smiled and nodded. "I'm sure, relax, you've been doing too much lately and you need your rest.

The Markazian smiled. Most men wouldn't bother changing their child's nappies, that's what she had heard from other mother's at the park when she took Susie and Elani. But she never had that issue with Ratchet, he was actively involved with both Elani and Susie. While Susie may not be their biological daughter they treated her as if she was. Susie even helped Talwyn with the baby whenever Ratchet went out on a week long mission for the PDF.

He only took on missions that wouldn't pull him away from his family for more than a week at a time. He didn't want to miss out on anything.

Talwyn sighed happily. _How did I get so lucky to find you?_

"Mrs. Apogee?"

"Yes Clank."

"I will be leaving for the Clock at 2 in the morning, is there anything you desire for me to do around the house before I leave?"

"No thank you Clank, you've done more around here than I could have asked for, but thank you for offering." Talwyn looked towards the stairs that led to the second floor of their home, where Ratchet had gone up to Elani's room. " But we do need to discuss Ratchet's birthday, it's next week, anyone have any ideas?"

"A party seems too cliché." Talwyn sighed. "I'm hoping to do something more for him, since he's been so helpful with everything else including taking care of Elani."

"We could plan a family outing for a picnic and have a birthday cake for him?" Susie said as a question since she wasn't sure.

"You know Susie, that's not a bad idea." Clank agreed. "Ratchet seems to be keen on the family concept, considering he never had one growing up, I'm sure he'd very much enjoy that."

Talwyn nodded. "Alright than its settled. I'll start looking around at different planets for the perfect spot."

* * *

 

Two big Green eyes stared at Ratchet with nothing but silent adoration. Ratchet had finished cleaning up Elani after the little one relieved herself and Papa Lombax had decided he would give her a bath and change her clothes. Her fur was still slightly damp as Ratchet used a fluffy blue towel to dry her. She giggled whenever Ratchet rubbed her belly, causing Ratchet to laugh with her before he began playing with her toes.

The little Lombax laughed at the feeling, reaching for her father's hands. Ratchet grabbed a pink shirt with ruffles on the sleeves and a pair of black pants. After fastening her diaper he dressed his youngest and placed a pair of purple socks on her tiny feet, before picking her up into his arms.

"Come on silly girl, let's go see what the others are doing." Ratchet kissed her cheek and left the room as Elani reached up to play with her father's ears.

"Ouch." Ratchet cringed when she tugged a little to hard on a patch of his fur. "Haha, careful munchkin, daddy won't have any fur left if you keep doing that."

Not understanding a word he had said, Elani continued her game of "yank on daddy's fur" as he walked back downstairs.

Talwyn heard his footsteps as she glanced away from the TV which was playing one of Qwarks old movies that was actually decent. She spotted her thoughtful Lombax and noticed Elani was changed into a new outfit.

"Did you bathe her?" The female asked as Ratchet walked over to her and Talwyn took her from his arms.

"Yeah, I figured I was up there anyway, so may as well do it before dinner."

You didn't have to, I could have done it."

"No worries Tal. Don't sweat it." He winked at her before turning to Susie. "Well it's nearing 5 o clock, are we all ready for dinner?"

"Yeah." They said in unison.

"Alright I'll start it, we doing soup tonight?"

"Sounds delicious."

Ratchet nodded before Susie spoke up. "Um, can I help you with dinner papa?" Ratchet smiled as Susie blushed slightly, she hardly called him or Tal, papa or mom. Her parents deaths still made her a bit uneasy to say it to them but when she did, there was nothing they wouldn't do to make sure she felt comfortable with it.

"Of course you can, come on." He reached out his hand and helped her off the floor where she was sitting and walked with her to the kitchen.

Talwyn glanced over to Clank. "It's hard to believe how much he has matured over the years."

"I know. When I first met him, he had always kept to himself about certain matters and was interested in nothing but his ships and trying to impress the girls." Clank gave his signature laugh as Tal, nodded in agreement.

Talwyn played softly with Elani's ears, the little Lombax smiling up at her mother as she did so. She sighed softly before rising to her feet, the little girl still in her arms. I think I'll go prepare Elani's food, I don't want Ratchet spoiling me too much by trying to take care of everything."

Clank nodded. "I will join you in a moment, I'm going to contact Sigmund and let him know I will be there by 2 am."

With a nod, Talwyn strolled to the kitchen as Clank headed down to the basement, he had decided he had wanted it as his room when they first bought the house. It had plenty of space and had no windows for prying eyes to see his teleportation pad or communication link with Sigmund.

Clank shut the door as he hopped down the stairs. But there was another thing he didn't want anyone else to see and it sat inside a safe that was embedded in the wall.

Opening the safe, Clank reached in and touched the metal helmet. "I know I shouldn't be trying to fix this, they wouldn't approve of me doing so. It could be a danger to all of us. Then again it could reunite Ratchet with his kind."

The dimensionator. While Ratchet and Talwyn knew Clank had kept the machine for safe keeping. They were in the dark about him trying to repair it.

Despite having it for this long, there were still some components missing or needed to be replaced. He was close and he knew it. He wanted Ratchet to meet his own kind, maybe his parents?

He knew Ratchet had learned from both Alistair and Tachyon that they were dead, but something told Clank otherwise. Maybe Tachyon had thought he killed them, if there was any chance Kaden survived by getting sucked into another dimension then that was what he was going to believe.

_I just hope when the time comes, they won't hate me for doing it._

* * *

 

Ratchet grabbed a ladle and began serving the soup into three separate bowls. Susie and Clank set the table and brought over the high chair for Elani from the closet. Since Elani still didn't have enough teeth at the moment, they were sticking her with soft foods. Pureed fruit would be dinner for her tonight.

Talwyn placed Elani in the high chair. "Since daddy already bathed you, let's make sure we don't get you too messy, okay?" She tapped the little Lombax on the nose causing her to giggle.

"I know, I know. I probably should have waited until after dinner." Ratchet laughed lightly as he walked over to place the bowls of soup on the table.

"No its fine." Tal smiled warmly. "You just love to help and I appreciate everything you do." She's leaned over to him and kissed him on the cheek.

He blushed at her praise, he was glad his fur covered it, otherwise she would have teased him about it. In a loving way at least.

Clank grabbed a magazine about robots and hopped up on a chair. He didn't eat, but he still sat with the family as they dined on their meal. He contributed to their conversations, as did Elani who only made little noises like she was talking.

As everyone sat down to eat, Ratchet's com unit began ringing. With a sigh, Ratchet excused himself and went to answer it.

It was the Polaris Defense Force captain that was filling in for Talwyn while she was on leave.

"Hey Ratchet."

"Captain."

"I need you for a mission next week. You will only be gone for three days time."

"Sure I can do that."

"Thanks Ratchet, I'll send over the mission details in an hour."

"No problem sir."

They ended their conversation and Ratchet headed back to the dining room to rejoin his family.

"Who was it?" Talwyn asked as she fed a spoonful of pureed fruit to Elani.

"Your fill in." Ratchet smirked. "They need me for a three day mission next week."

"Oh, well at least it's not a week long one again."

"Yeah, these types are usually just surveying missions." Ratchet smiled. "Simple, in and out."

They continued their meal as conversation picked up, between the four of them, with Elani making noises that sounded like she was trying to talk. They laughed as she giggled when she discovered she could make noises with her lips.

Ratchet smiled. Family was amazing.

Ratchet and Talwyn tucked Susie in and kissed her goodnight. While Tal went to place Elani in her crib, Susie pulled Ratchet down to whisper to him. "Can we continue training tomorrow after school?"

"We'll see how the day goes, okay?"

Susie nodded and smiled before turning on her side and closing her eyes. Ratchet walked over to Talwyn who stood next to Elani's crib. He reached his hand down to brush across her ears as she sighed contentedly in her sleep.

Susie had agreed to share a room with Elani until the small Lombax was old enough to have a room to herself. All of them felt more secure with someone sleeping in the same room with her. Susie enjoyed being a big sister, she loved Elani more than anything. When the time came, they would move Susie to the spare bedroom next to Ratchet and Talwyn's room.

Ratchet put his arm around Talwyn's waist and they walked out of the room after turning off the light. From there they went to their own room and closed the door. Ratchet went up behind Tal and hugged her from behind, his arms encircling her waist as he pulled her closer to him.

"I love you." He whispered lovingly to her and she smiled.

" I love you too."

Ratchet moved away and went to remove his suit as he walked into the bathroom. Once he had changed into nothing except a pair of black pants he crawled onto the bed as Tal changed into a dark green nightgown, it was made from silk and it went to her knees. She slid onto the mattress next to him, his arm automatically going to her waist and tugging her to him. She faced him, their noses touching softly, her hand made its way to his cheek before stroking the smooth fur.

"How did I ever deserve you?"

Ratchet frowned and propped himself up on his arm to stare down at her. "I should be asking you that question."

Talwyn laughed and pulled him down to her level so she could kiss him passionately on the lips. Little did she know, she had started a fire that would take all night to put out.


	3. Duty

_~Everything I know, and anywhere I go, It gets hard but it won't take away my love~_

* * *

Ratchet's ears twitched at the sound of crying. He cracked his eyes open to see Talwyn next to him and his arm around her. He sat up on the bed before shifting to look at the clock.

3:00 am.

Talwyn opened her eyes at the feeling of his warmth leaving her as she too heard crying. She turned to Ratchet and he reached over to keep her down before she got up. He pulled the covers up past her chest and brushed a hand through her hair. "I'll get her." He smiled. "Go back to sleep."

"Are you sure?"

With a nod of his head he slipped on his black pants and padded barefoot to the door. He closed it behind him and silently walked down the hall to the girl's room. The crying grew louder as he drew closer, something had to have woken her up. She was teething, so maybe the pain had come to her in the middle of the night.

Pushing open the door, he stepped in to see Susie standing next to Elani's crib, trying to soothe her by rubbing her back through the openings on the sides.

"Susie?"

The Tharpod turned to him and smiled, "I tried calming her. But I don't think it's working."

Ratchet sauntered over and picked up the crying infant. After checking her diaper and seeing she didn't need to be changed he held her up to his face, his nose touching hers. "Are you teething again?" He questioned even though he knew she couldn't answer him.

"Go back to bed Susie, I'll take care of her." He patted her head affectionately. "You don't want to be tired for school tomorrow."

The young girl nodded and dragged herself back to her bed as Ratchet pulled the covers over her. She was out in an instant. Shaking his head and smiling, he left the room with Elani in his arms. Going downstairs to the kitchen, he went to the freezer and grabbed a teething ring for her to bite on, hoping it would relieve the pain. From the looks of it, it did. Elani chewed softly on the item, her face showing instant relief.

Before Ratchet could go sit down on the couch to try and get her back to sleep, he heard a beeping. A beeping that could only be coming from one place. The communication link in the office. That line was for emergencies only. And he didn't like the fact that someone was calling this early in the morning.

_Great._

Switching directions, he headed to the office and sure enough, the communication link was blinking red. With a heavy sigh, he clicked the button, and the screen flickered on before he saw Qwark's face appear.

"Qwark?" Ratchet raised a brow at the men dressed in his usual green attire. He looked pale and freaked out before he hesitantly cleared his throat.

"Um hey Ratchet, Uh, I need you on an urgent mission." He twiddled his thumbs and swallowed nervously.

"What happened?"

"Uh, it appears that a ship crashed onto Zanifar, they were barely able to send us a distress signal before we lost all contact." Qwark cleared his throat again. "We believe, it was a family of four that were traveling, parents and two kids."

While Qwark was no Captain, the PDF gave him a job delivering mission details to their officers. Very rarely did Qwark ever see any real action in the field.

"Okay…anyone can do that mission, and the Fongoids should be able to supply them with food and water."

"I don't have anyone else for this mission. Everyone else is out on patrol or have been sent on other missions in other sectors."

Ratchet sighed. "The Fongoids don't have much technology, I mean I could take my tools and some spare parts to see what I could do to help them."

"Great!" Qwark cheered a little too happily, and suddenly Ratchet felt that something wasn't right with him.

"Qwark, are you okay?"

"Me? Oh yes, peachy, never better." He grinned. "Now you be careful out there."

Ratchet paused for a second, as he considered the man's last statement. Shaking his head, he ended the call and looked down to Elani. She was out cold, the teething ring still clutched in her hand. Laughing slightly he went upstairs to put Elani back to bed.

After he made sure she wouldn't wake up, he went back to the room he shared with Talwyn. She was asleep, he hated he'd have to wake her to tell her where he was going. Sighing he made his way to the closet to put on his Nebulox armor, he thought for a moment before deciding he would bring along his weapons which were stored in his glove, thanks to nano technology and pocket dimension tech.

As soon as he was fitted in his suit, the material forming to his body, he moved to Talwyn's side of the bed. He sat down and leaned over and touched her face with his gloved hand. "Tal?"

She stirred, her eyes opening suddenly at seeing him so close to her. "What's going on?"

"I have to go on a mission. Search and rescue on Zanifar."

"But that's so far." She frowned. "You were gone for a month when you went to search for Clank over in that sector."

"I was only gone that long because I was searching for Clank while fighting Nefarious and his troops." Ratchet explained. "But I know where I'm going already, so I shouldn't be gone more than five days."

She sighed sadly. "Who called you, so I can kick their ass."

Ratchet laughed. "Qwark, and don't do that, that's what he was hired to do."

Talwyn grabbed a shirt from her nightstand and slipped it on, the material reaching to her knees as she stood up. After grabbing some pants she turned to him and pulled him into a tight embrace.

"I don't like the idea of you going out there by yourself, just promise you'll be careful."

Since Clank would be with Sigmund until eight, Ratchet was on his own for this mission, and that alone scared her.

"I'll be fine Tal. I'll send you a voice transmission when I get there okay?"

Since he'd be going to another sector, contact was limited to voice transmissions only; video and holo com wouldn't work out there.

She grabbed his hand. "I'll walk you out."

Ratchet threw the bag he had filled with water and food into Aphelion's passenger seat, along with a toolbox filled with whatever he would need to repair a ship. He turned to Talwyn who stood on the steps by the front door. He ran over to her and grabbed her in a fierce hug before kissing her on lips.

"I'll be back before you know it." He assured her. "And I have a part coming in tomorrow for our neighbors ship-"

"I'll take care of it."

"Thanks Tal." He smiled softly and looked back to the house.

"Susie and Elani are going to miss you."

"I know." She didn't miss the sadness in his tone.

"Hurry back."

With one last kiss goodbye, Ratchet went back to Apehlion and hopped into the drivers seat and imputed the coordinates to Zanifar.

With a wave he was gone.

* * *

Talwyn moved around the kitchen, cooking breakfast for Susie as the young girl sat sadly at the table. She missed Ratchet, lately after school twice a week he would teach her about flying ships. Today was supposed to be that day. She hated whenever he had to go out on a mission, she loved spending time with him, like father and daughter were supposed to do. But inside she knew he still had a job to do to protect all of them.

"Here you go sweetie." Tal placed a plate in front of Susie who smiled up at her.

"Thank you…um Mama?"

Tal smiled at her uncertainty about calling her that, but she took it in stride and nodded.

Talwyn grabbed a jar of pureed veggies just as Clank walked through the basement door.

"Good morning Mrs. Apogee, Susie.." Clank greeted with a wave. "How are you today?"

"Good, just had a long night."

"What happened? And where is Ratchet?"

"That's why it was a long night. Elani woke up at 3 am, and then Ratchet ended up receiving a call to go on a rescue mission."

"Where to?"

"Zanifar."

Clank looked confused. "I do not understand, why would they send him so far out there without calling me for back up?"

"Please don't make me have doubts about him going alone, he assured me he'd be fine."

Clank inwardly cringed, well as best as a robot could cringe anyway. "I am sorry. I just worry about Ratchet, it's been that way since I met him."

"No worries Clank, I feel the same way, but he'll be back before you know it."

The communicator in the room began beeping and Clank excused himself to go answer it. Talwyn looked up, no, it was way to early for Ratchet to have arrived. Curious, she followed Clank after asking Susie to keep an eye on Elani.

She walked into the room to see her fill in Captain on the screen. Clank turned to her when she walked in.

"What's going on?"

"Talwyn, who called Ratchet about the mission?"

She glanced from the Captain to Clank. "Ratchet told me Qwark did."

"Impossible."

"Clank, what happened?"

"Kip, is it alright if I use your first name?" Clank asked as he paused before the Captain nodded. "Kip is telling me that they never gave out a mission for Zanifar. And according to their roster, Qwark hasn't been to work in five days.

"He's been missing?" Talwyn questioned incredulously. "And you didn't inform us about that!"

Kip looked down in shame, he knew he screwed up. Talwyn was pissed. No. She was beyond pissed. Anger and fear rushed through her veins at the thought of Ratcbet heading into a trap. She composed herself and looked to the man on the screen

"Kip Nova, I hereby relieve you of your Captain status." Talwyn stated professionally.

"But Miss, who will act as Captain?"

"I am returning to duty." Talwyn's tone of voice left no room for argument. "Because of your actions, my husband could be flying into a trap. You didn't follow protocol when one if our own went missing, you will face the consequences."

"I understand Ma'am. But at least let me assist you in finding Ratchet and afterwards I will answer for what I've done."

Talwyn considered his words carefully. She would need as much help as she could get, most of the PDF troops were on other missions. "Very well, assemble whatever squadron you have available and I want the carrier fully locked and loaded with six fighters and a medical transport. Have the rest of the squad fly in formation around the carrier."

"Yes ma'am." With a salute the screen went dark.

Clank glanced to Talwyn, the Markazian was upset. No, she was angry, very angry by the look on her face but underneath he saw worry as well. "Talwyn, we must go immediately."

"I know, but who's going to watch Elani and Susie?"

"They will have to come with us." Clank stated and she knew he was right. It was too late to get a babysitter. "Alright, I'll call Susie's school and let them what's going on. See if you can get in contact with Ratchet."

Clank nodded. Hopefully the transmission would work, they didn't know who they were dealing with, or if they had already somehow blocked Apehlion from receiving messages. He just hoped Ratchet could hold his own until they arrived, he was going in blind.

* * *

The flight to Zanifar seemed like a long one, but with the ever advancing technology and hyperspace travel, Ratchet made it within a day. Having been asleep for the better part of the ride, Aphelion woke him when they neared the planet.

A transmission had tried to come through 19 hours earlier but it was filled with too much static for him to make out whatever the other person was trying to say. He had hoped it wasn't important, but he felt a bit uneasy about this whole situation.

"Apehlion can you send a message to Talwyn?"

"Negative, my communication system seems to be getting blocked."

"That's weird" Ratchet raised a brow. "Did we hit any unknown anomaly while I was out."

"Negative."

Ratchet sighed, Talwyn was going to kill him for not calling her. He scratched his chin thoughtfully, actually she was going to castrate him. He cringed inwardly and shook his head. But what could he do? His eyes scanned the planet. He couldn't see very far, but something had to give a hint as to where the family was.

"Where do we look first?" The Lombax muttered to himself. "They didn't exactly give me a specific area." After realizing it was already dark on Zanifar, he decided he would make camp and resume his search when daylight broke.

Since he wasn't very familiar with the lifeforms on this planet, he made sure to stick close to Apehelion as he set up a fire pit. The only thing that bothered him was the silence, everything was quiet. If there were any wild animals or lifeforms on this planet, they were sneaky about it.

_What is going on?_

* * *

Deciding he would check the village first to see if the family had found their way to the Fongoids, he went in for landing. It was weird to see no sign of life anywhere, and in that sense he became increasingly worried and suspicious.

Leaving Apehlion under the shade of a large tree, he walked towards the village. The closer he got, he felt more and more of his fur standing on end. He couldn't shake the feeling in the pit of his stomach.

_Somethings wrong._

Hoping his link to Apehlion still worked he pressed his communicator. "Apehlion?"

"I can hear you Ratchet, seems I can still get close range communication."

"Are your scanners working?:

"Unfortunately not."

"Damn, I guess I'm going in blind."

Ears twitching, he raised his wrench into a defensive position. He hoped he wouldn't have to use it, but it was better safe than sorry right? As soon as he cleared the trees, his heart dropped immediately, he saw nothing but cages. Steel cages for that matter. And inside those cages? The Fongoids and Qwark?

He sprinted over to where Qwark was trapped with a Fongoid family. "Qwark?"

The man's eyes widened with surprise before they turned sad. "Ratchet, I'm sorry. He said he'd kill them if I didn't get you here."

"He who?"

"Me!"

Ratchet turned and before be could brace himself or activate his armor, a metal claw came down, slashing him across the chest from his right shoulder to his left side . "Ahhh!"

He went flying into the mountain side and crashed to the ground as blood seeped through the new wounds. Ratchet coughed, blood leaking from his mouth. He clutched his chest and groaned before looking to see who had attacked him.

Tachyon.

_How?_

"I'm going to enjoy killing you Lombax. Just as I enjoyed killing your father and your mother. And as I will soon enjoy painting your daughters room red."

Ratchets eyes widened at his words. Anger and agony shot through his body as he stared at the Cragmite. The new robotic throne he sat upon had many more upgrades than the last. Including the four metal tentacles with steel claws.

"Too bad you won't be around to see me take over this universe." Tachyon smiled menacingly. "You may have won our last battle Lombax, but theres a war that has yet to be one." He cackled.

The metal tentacles shot towards Ratchet as he scrambled to his feet to rollout of the way, only to land on his side. Clenching one of his eyes closed due to the pain, he stood on shaky legs and turned toward the Cragmite emperor. One of his gloved hands pressed to his chest, desperately trying to stop the bleeding.

_I shouldn't have left the nano-tech in the ship._

"Prepare to die!" Percival screeched as Ratchet raised his wrench with one hand.

* * *

Talwyn stared into the blackness of space, the emptiness made her skin crawl. Ratchet had beaded into something be wasn't prepared for. She was even sure the PDF was prepared. Whoever this unknown enemy is, she would make sure they regretted setting a trap for Ratchet.

"Ma'am, we should arrive within an hour."

Talwyn nodded to one of the lower ranking officers.

"Prepare the ships, we have to be ready for anything."

 


End file.
